Chicago, IL – Welington Castillo stood at home plate and watched.
With two outs, a man on and a run down, the further the fastball he launched traveled down the left-field line and the more dampened, empty seats it passed over, the louder the remaining Wrigley faithful became, eager to punctuate the afternoon tilt with one last dramatic turn.
But the noise quickly turned to silence. Castillo sliced the long fly ball just foul, and soon after Brewers closer Jim Henderson escaped the threat to pick up his 13th save and finish off a 6-5 win in the opener of a day/night doubleheader.
Jean Segura capped a four-run, come-from-behind seventh inning with a double to help the Brewers overcome the Cubs' five-run fifth and earn their third win in four games.
Yovani Gallardo started for the Brewers and left with two outs in the fifth inning due to a tight left hamstring. He was charged with three runs on six hits and three walks. Rob Wooten (1-0) picked up his first major league win after tossing a scoreless sixth inning.
Castillo had three hits, knocked in a run and scored another for the Cubs, who lost their second straight to start this four-game set.
James Russell (1-3) took the loss after giving up two runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Segura kicked off the scoring in the fourth inning when he blasted a fastball over the left-field fence to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead and Yuniesky Betancourt doubled the advantage with a home run in the fifth inning.
Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro singled in the fifth before Luis Valbuena worked a two-out walk to load the bases. Gallardo worked Darwin Barney to a 1-2 count before coming up lame on the follow-through of a 1-2 pitch that Barney fouled.
John Axford replaced Gallardo but surrendered a base hit to center field, which scored two and tied the game. Castillo, pitcher Carlos Villanueva and David DeJesus followed with three more singles to open up a 5-2 lead.
The Brewers stormed back in the seventh. Jeff Bianchi started the rally with a walk and Betancourt singled to chase Villanueva from the contest. Khris Davis greeted Russell with a three-run blast to right field.
Two batters later, Norichika Aoki singled before stealing second and third base. Segura golfed out a slider inches off the dirt and dropped it into the left-field corner to score Aoki and give Milwaukee a 6-5 lead.
Brandon Kintzler and Michael Gonzalez tossed a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, respectively. Henderson walked Dioner Navarro and, after the long foul ball, Castillo walked. Henderson retired pinch-hitter Cody Ransom on a fly ball to center to end the game.
Game Notes
Prior to the game, the Brewers recalled infielder Scooter Gennett from Triple- A Nashville to serve as the 26th man in the doubleheader ... The Brewers are 38-0 when leading after eight innings this year. They are the only team in baseball without a loss when leading after eight ... Milwaukee was 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base while Chicago went 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13.
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